We, the underpaid and unpaid staffers of The Eagle, understand what it is like to not be compensated for the amount of time and effort we pour into this beloved publication. Aside from the glory of seeing our name in a byline or in the staff box, we get little compensation for our hours logged here. So we can, in a way, empathize with our Student Government officials that are underpaid for the work they do.
The Undergraduate Senate is in the process of creating a bill that would increase the pay of several SG executives and create a salary for the speaker of the Senate next year. The salaries of the past three SG presidents have been the lowest since its inception six years ago, while requiring the same level of commitment. While we do have some issues with the new bill, we are generally behind the goal of increasing the SG president’s salary to reflect his or her hard work and efforts.
Many of the top SG executives receive a salary for their hours logged during the semester and over the summer, which is often the equivalent of a full-time job. Currently, the SG president position salary pays about the same as a 20 hour-per-week job, when in reality, the time that President Nate Bronstein puts in much more than that. While his salary at this time is nothing to sneeze at for those of us with unpaid internships or minor babysitting gigs, it does not fairly compensate Bronstein for all of his work. While Bronstein will remain unaffected by these changes, we believe that future presidents will also deserve a requisite salary.
Our one point of contention with this bill is the decision to now make the speaker of the Senate a paid position. In comparison to the SG executives, the speaker’s time commitments are less demanding and do not extend year-round. In addition, to pay the speaker but not the rest of the Senate body is unfair to those that have dedicated their time to this institution. All of these elected representatives of our student body put in time and effort and unfortunately we cannot pay them all for what they do.
To turn the speaker position into a paid one is not fair to these other senators who don’t see financial compensation for their work or to those SG officials who put in far more work for an equal amount of pay.
Our views on these pay increases have nothing to do with those currently holding these positions — the changes, if approved, won’t go into effect until next year anyway. We base our evaluations off of the position itself.
We believe it is not fair for those positions that require much less of those who hold them to receive similar benefits to those who work more.
We encourage the SG to give the checks where the checks are due, but to wisely consider where exactly they are due.
